New from Sky

Slowly but surely, the digital platforms are disseminating information about their subscribers. Typically this is only when there is positive news to report but, nevertheless, it allows the market to develop a clearer understanding of the relative standings of each of the platforms.

Despite releasing financial figures that reflect massive losses, Sky was able to report some positive growth to the digital subscriber base over the past 2 months. Their customers currently stand at 5.25million (up from 5.025million in early December). For the first time, Sky released some information on how and why they are using the associated interactive services:

Some of the stats:
- Two thirds of the audience used Open over the last 6months of 2000; with over 550 000 products being ordered.
- 1.3 million have an email account
- The average subscriber spends £286 per year

All this further substantiates Sky’s dominance of the interactive TV sector. Despite the limitations of their delivery platform, they seem to be making the most of their large audiences. The recent OFTEL ruling that forced them to open up their platform to other interactive service providers is a significant development (see posting below: "Energis/Graham Technology") but I believe it will be a while before competitors make up the ground.